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The latest craze in the world of CBD, hemp, or THC cannabis flower comes from another ancient tradition: smoking herbal blends. With the ever-increasing popularity of smoking either hemp or cannabis flower (or both), herbal blends are finally being produced by manufacturers. You can easily make your own magical herbal blends at home with organically grown food grade herbs and flowers.

Smoking either cannabis or CBD hemp flower is the fastest way to get THC or CBD into your system, as inhalation is the most direct pathway to the bloodstream. We know that THC is an entheogen, providing us a pathway to connect with spirit. Therefore, it isn't much of a stretch to understand that other plants can also be used by inhaling their smoke to connect with spirit (and in many other magical ways). By smoking a plant, you inhale its essence, making it a part of you and bringing its properties into your body and spirit. Whether it's CBD hemp or cannabis, you can spice up your bowl or roll with these herbal blends, or you can also smoke these blends without adding hemp or cannabis. They are completely smokable on their own.

Before we start talking about different blends to use, let's talk about some of the things you need to know about smoking them.

First, if you are using either cannabis with THC or hemp flower with CBD, you need to remember, that by adding it to a blend, you will need to smoke a larger amount of the blend than a normal dose of flower only to get the equivalent amount of either THC or CBD. By mixing it, we basically dilute the amount of THC or CBD available in each hit, so more hits are necessary to make up for it.

This can present a refill issue. If you have a small bowl or pipe, you may have to refill it several times. You can roll you own, making it the size you want. But what I found that I love was to get a hookah, and instead of using it with a charcoal tablet, I put down a two-inch diameter smoke screen, load it up with my blend, light it, and smoke away. The smoke is extremely filtered and smooth by the time it gets to me. I have also found it a lot easier to clean than most of my pipes, bowls, and bongs. But you smoke it in whatever way works best for you. I also have special pipes that I use for ritual use, so on those occasions, I do have to refill a few times.

Second, be sure you know what you are smoking. I am a person of many allergies, so I need to know what I am inhaling. While calendula is a smokable flower, it's one that I am highly allergic to, and don't want to find out what kind of reaction I might have. There are plenty of other plants I can smoke, so I am fine skipping this one. You also need to make sure the herbs or flowers you are smoking are food grade. Roses bought from a florist or supermarket are not food grade. They are covered in pesticides and fertilizers and other chemicals. They are not safe to smoke. Do not use the petals to make a fancy rolled joint. Always be sure what you smoke is organic.

Third, you need to decide how you want to smoke your blends, simply blended or ground. When I am using my hookah and have plenty of space for plant material, I often blend my herbs together with either my hemp or weed and smoke them on the screen in a "whole" format. If I am going to smoke them in a smaller bowl where I don't have that much room, I pour the mixture into my bud grinder, grind it, and then add in ground bud, too. Grinding your blends will help ensure a more complete mix in each hit.

Finally, these recipes are how I make my blends. Feel free to change the measurements up if you want too. Not all herbs taste great. Some you may find you really like. Add those in for flavor if you feel the need too. If combining these blends with cannabis, they would work well with indica strains.

Uplifting Mood Enhancer Blend
This blend is sure to put a smile on your face and give your mood a boost. This is a bit more costly blend to make. Blue Lotus, Sacred Lotus, and rose petals are all pricey flowers, but I must say, I find them worth the investment.

Blend equal parts Blue Lotus, California Poppy, Damiana, rose petals, and Sacred Lotus. To help stretch this blend, you may want to alter the ratio of the more expensive ingredients, but try not to overwhelm the flowers too much.

The Blue Lotus flower originated in Egypt, where it was thought to be used as one of the first herbal highs. It produces calming, yet mood-uplifting effects.

California poppy produces calming effects and mild euphoria.

Damiana is a natural antidepressant and can truly make your mood do a 180. This is one of my favorite herbs to smoke.

Rose petals produce feelings of peace and happiness.

Sacred Lotus is similar to Blue Lotus, containing the same alkaloids nuciferine and aporphine, which help you to feel calm and relaxed. If you need to cut cost, eliminate one of the types of lotus from this blend.

Meditative Spirit Connection Blend
This blend is perfect to put you into a deep meditative state for when you want to connect with spirit. It will relax you while allowing your mind to clear itself for communication with Spirit. White sage has a strong taste to it, so if my recommendation is too much for you, of course feel free to cut it down.

For this blend use equal parts mugwort, white sage, and wormwood. This one is helpful with a THC cannabis.

Mugwort is probably the best herb for visions, divination, and meditation. It's really a great herb for anyone practicing magic but is extra helpful in meditation and connecting with spirit.

Not only is White Sage perfect for cleansing, but it also helps to support a deep meditative state with awareness of your higher consciousness.

Wormwood helps to break down the barriers between worlds. Known for being an ingredient in absinthe, wormwood has quite a magical reputation. It also helps boost the effects of THC.

Peace Blend
Even if you generally add a THC cannabis to your blends, do me a favor, and try this one without any the first time you use it. I was amazed at the peaceful high I obtained. Although it was slightly different and didn't last as long as a THC high, I was pleasantly surprised at how incredibly peaceful, relaxed, and spiritually connected this blend made me feel.

Blend together equal parts of hops, motherwort, and rose petals.

Hop flowers are a cousin to cannabis but do not contain any THC. Hops do provide a sedating effect while supporting calmness and peace.

Motherwort offers a slight non-THC high. It eases anxiety and supports a sense of calm, self-love, and peace.

Rose petals induce happiness and peace. In this blend, they also help to counteract the bitter of the hops, making it exceptionally smooth.

Dream Blend
I have spent years trying to be able to recall my dreams. Somewhere in my thirties, dream recall disappeared from my skill set. Over the past twenty years, I have only remembered a handful of dreams. Most of my attempts to recall my dreams have been in vain. When I started smoking herbal blends, I began experimenting again and have found a combination that led me to my first dream recall in years. The fact that the dream took place in the Scottish countryside made it all the better.

Blend together equal parts Blue Vervain, Calea Zacatechichi, wild lettuce, and lavender.

Blue Vervain is one of my favorite smokable herbs. It is a strong nervine and produces a wonderful relaxing calm. It is also known for its abilities to aid in lucid dreaming.

Calea Zacatechichi, commonly known as the dream herb, helps to produce lucid dreams, increased dream activity, and dream recall. I can attest it has worked for me.

Wild lettuce also helps to produce vivid dreams.

Combining these herbs together with lavender helps promote peace, relaxation, and sleep, making it the perfect combination. Because Calea Zacatechichi has a rather bitter flavor, the lavender also helps to sweeten the taste.

Astral Travel Blend
This blend is a terrific aid for astral travel and projection. This combination of four potent herbs will work well on its own, but even better when combined with cannabis.

Blend together equal amounts of blue vervain, mugwort, wild lettuce, and wormwood.

Blue vervain and wild lettuce aid in astral travel as well as lucid dreaming.

Mugwort helps with visioning during your astral travels.

Wormwood helps you to slip between the worlds to guide you on your travel path.

This isn't the best tasting blend, but you may add lavender or blue lotus to change the flavor without weakening the blend. The lavender or blue lotus will also add a relaxing boost of peace and calm to your travel. This is helpful for people who get anxious about trying astral travel. Anxiety will prevent travel from happening, but lavender or blue lotus can help solve this issue, too.

I hope you enjoy these blends as much as I do. Feel free to experiment and learn about new herbs to try along with their physical and magical properties to create blends that will work best for you and help you broaden your magical practices.